This latest report is essentially an update on the interim
report presented last month at the March
14th hearing before the Environment and Economy Subcommittee of
the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The areas addressed in that earlier
report informed much of the discussion that took place in that hearing. Three
general areas of concern were reviewed in this report:

• An incomplete risk assessment
process is used to assign facility Tier rankings;

The report discusses the general approach that ISCD uses to
assign a facility a CFATS risk score which is then used to assign a facility to
one of four possible risk Tiers. It notes that the risk assessment process is
slightly different based upon the type of chemical risk at the facility;
release, theft/diversion or sabotage. It also briefly describes the two
problems with the models used in that assessment that were discovered and
addressed by ISCD in the last two years.

The GAO continues to take ISCD to task for not utilizing the
three factor approach to risk assessment; consequence, threat and
vulnerability. ISCD’s current methodology currently only utilizes consequence
in its risk assessment model and then only human casualties not economic. Even
when analyzing human casualty consequences from an attack the report notes that
the data used for that assessment is based upon 5-year old Metropolitan
Statistical Area information not the annually updated Urban Areas Security
Initiative data.

As a side note, one would assume that if ISCD did use the
annually updated data there would be the possibility that some facility tier
rankings could change as the population density around them changed. This could
result in a requirement for periodic changes in facility security plans to
reflect changes in risk. While a theoretical argument could certainly be made
that this would provide for more effective security, it would certainly lead to
an burden increase on affected facilities and ISCD.

The report notes that ISCD has some programs in place to
begin to address this issue, but reports that there does not appear to be a
comprehensive plan in place to move these efforts forward. Two of the three
recommendations included in the report address these issues:

• Develop a plan, with timeframes
and milestones, that incorporates the results of the various efforts to fully
address each of the components of risk and take associated actions where
appropriate to enhance ISCD’s risk assessment approach consistent with the NIPP
and the CFATS rule, and

• Conduct an independent peer
review, after ISCD completes enhancements to its risk assessment approach, that
fully validates and verifies ISCD’s risk assessment approach consistent with
the recommendations of the National Research Council of the National Academies.

SSP Evaluations

The second area addressed in this reports looks at the
problems that ISCD has had with its site security plan authorization and
approval process. It includes a fairly detailed description of the original
review process and the two subsequent revisions to that process that have
brought us to where we are today, approving 30 to 40 plans per month.

The report doesn’t really address the process, however. It
is more concerned with being able to measure the improvement in the effectiveness
of the process since the changes have been made. It does make the point that
there are no records of efficacy (or lack thereof) from before the changes were
made, so there can be no real evaluation of whether the new process is ‘better’.

Having spent most of my chemical life working as a process
chemist, I know the value of being able to evaluate the effects of the changes
made. But, when you go from 0 authorizations in two years to 50 in six months
to 230 in three months, I think we can all agree that an improvement has been
made.

ISCD is beginning to establish project metrics so that they
will be able to better document the effects of future changes. The GAO was
obviously satisfied; they made no recommendations in this area.

Community Outreach

The final area that this GAO report looks at is the efficiency
of the Department’s communications with the regulated community and other
entities (local communities, first responders, emergency planners, etc) affected
by the CFATS program. The GAO notes that the number of the Department’s
outreach contacts appears to have been increasing over the life of the program,
but reported that ISCD was doing nothing in the way of evaluating how effective
those efforts were.

The GAO conducted a very limited study of how the regulated
community viewed those communications efforts. The study wouldn’t have passed
muster in any of the statistics classes or the commercial polling class that I
have taken, but it certainly seems to indicate that there is room for
improvement in how ISCD communicates with the regulated community. And we
certainly don’t want to get into their communications over the years with
Congress.

With that in mind the report recommends that ISCD should “explore
opportunities and take action to systematically solicit and document feedback
on facility outreach consistent with ISCD efforts to develop a strategic communication
plan” (pg 40).

Moving Forward

As I noted earlier, ISCD and NPPD have generally agreed with
the report and its recommendations. Director Wulf has made the appropriate
acknowledgement and acceptance of the recommendations. Now we can only sit and
wait to see how well he will be able to make the systemic changes needed to
comply. An remember that his organization must do this while authorizing and
inspecting facilities at an increased pace, put a personnel surety program into
place, and stand up an ammonium nitrate security program That is a lot of stuff
to get done, but the backlog is of their own making in most instance. Still,
the best of luck to David and his folks.

About Me

I spent 15 years in the US Army as an Infantry NCO. After getting out of the Army I started working in the chemical industry, getting my BSc Chemistry degree while working as a technician. I spent 12 years working as a process chemist in a specialty chemical company. Most recently I worked as a QA/R&D Manager in a specialty chemical manufacturing facility. Currently I am working as a freelance writer.